Crisis and Recovery Enhancement (CARE) TA Center

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Supporting Students and Staff in the Aftermath of Crisis and Loss

Source: Pacific Southwest Mental Health Technology Transfer Center

Resource Type: Video or Multimedia

Focus Population: Youth, Youth of Transition Age

Topics: Schools, School-based Services, Suicide Prevention

Crisis and loss are common in the lives of students, whether due to a death or crisis involving a student’s individual family or one that affects the entire school community. Major events have the potential to cause short- and long-term effects on the psychological functioning, academic achievement, emotional adjustment, health, and developmental trajectory of students.

Classroom educators and other school professionals can play a vital role in providing important support to students to promote their understanding of the event, minimize the academic impact through academic accommodations, help them learn coping strategies to accelerate their adjustment and minimize their distress, and minimize maladaptive coping mechanisms and behavioral difficulties. Yet most educators and other school professionals have had limited to no professional training in how to support students in the aftermath of crisis and loss.

This workshop helps school professionals learn basic skills in how to talk with and support individual students or the entire class/school as they struggle to understand and cope with a crisis or loss in their lives. Dr. Schonfeld draws on over 30 years’ experience in school crisis response and pediatric bereavement to illustrate key points.